It’s a few days after London SMX 08 and I think my brain and central nervous system have just about calmed down. This was my second conference and the first I presented at. I wasn’t able to go to a lot of the sessions on the first day as the cycles in my brain were being used up thinking about my presentation, and of course I had to rewrite the whole damn thing.

I even had to write it out in longhand as the smart-arse bloke on the registration desk printed it out in teeny text and then told me not to be too funny, cheers mate, very helpful.

It’s interesting though, writing it out in longhand whilst listening to Obama storm to victory, really helped drip the narrative into my brain. And as the presentation was on using psychological techniques to seduce links, it felt right.

The second day was crazy too. I managed to deliver my presentation without tripping up on the way to the podium (my baseline for success) and was able to enjoy the rest of the guys presenting, Tom Critchlow, Jay Young and Wiep Knol.

Between the 4 of us I think we have been responsible for quite a few links, and the party is just getting started.

Here is the main thing I took from the conference.

Content for humans is more important than ever. Exceptional content is vital to getting links. But here’s the thing I come across all the time. Journalists and corporate copywriters, those trained in a traditional, conventional way do not seem to get it. I talk to a lot of seos’ about their content creation and they all bemoan their staff and their lack of fire in their belly and in their text.

I suppose when you clock in and clock out it doesn’t become passionate and vital. Also, a lot of the conventional education for writers these days goes against what works when using content to build links.

There is a formula for creating content for links and it’s easy to learn. But it’s hard for writers to unlearn what doesn’t work. You also have to take into account that writers are a pretty much, messed up in the head bunch, at least the good ones are.

Excellent linkbait, fantastic copy which causes mouthfuls of coffee to be sprayed over a 22 inch, Samsung monitor is very, very hard to do. Which is why people who can write like the devil on a wet and wild weekend can charge a premium rate.

SMX London has made me think about content in a new way, and I think there is a demand for a service on a number of price points which can delver.

SMX Conference regrets.

Didn’t get a chance to chat to Dave Naylor, I really wanted to but it was a whirlwind. Didn’t chat more to a number of my linkbaitcoaching.com people, it would have been great to have sat down with them for a day or two and knock around ideas.

Plus a load of other people I feel guilty about not including in this post, but the kettles about ready.

Note: this post was written a few days after SMX London 2008, and yes it’s late. It’s been lurking in my Wordress Drafts file with 200 other unpublished posts. The reason is I have been insanely busy, mostly with setting up offices and taking on rather large clients who share my Holistic view of social media marketing and seo. But that’s for another post.